11. Indy Clings To The Submarine Periscope - Raiders Of The Lost Ark
One of the most notorious lapses in narrative logic glimpsed in Raiders stems from the infamous submarine ride sequence, in which - somehow - Indiana Jones manages to stay submerged beneath the ocean as the Nazi vessel makes it ways to the secluded island where Belloq and friends plan to open the Ark of the Covenant. But this deleted scene - the footage of which is sadly unavailable (or does not even exist) - would have seen Indy grabbing hold of the extended periscope in order to secure his ride, whilst the submarine merely cruises close to the surface of the water, allowing him to breathe. This was probably deleted from the final cut of the film because - at the time - it seemed like something of an over-explanation; Spielberg presumably thought it was a waste of time to go into so much detail on what he deemed to be a minor point. As a result, it was only partially filmed, which means that the right footage wasn't there for the edit anyway. It's a shame it wasn't ultimately included, though - the sight of Indy clinging to a periscope could have been downright hilarious.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.